Formed metal parts and in particular formed sheet-metal parts are manufactured in multi-component forming presses by deep drawing, restriking, folding, trimming, etc., involving different forming tools.
For the configuration of sheet-metal-forming tools (for example, punches, dies, and blank holders), as well as for the configuration of metal forming processes (for example, tool forces, draw beads, lubrication, shape, and material for the sheet-metal blank), CAD/CAE (computer aided design/computer aided engineering) programs are utilized. These simulate and model, respectively, a metal forming process by means of finite elements on the basis of simulation parameters. Simulation parameters describe                the geometry or shape of the forming tools utilized in the metal forming process,        process parameters or metal forming parameters, such as the lubrication, processing forces, drawbeads, etc.        material parameters of the material being formed, such as thickness, rolling direction, elastic properties, yield and hardening behaviour, physical characteristics etc.        
The simulation programs create, by numerical simulation, result values comprising a description of the geometry of a sheet-metal part after the forming process as well as the distribution of state variables, such as elongations and stresses in the formed sheet-metal part. They also may calculate, from the result values, values of certain characteristic variables, called performance variables, which express a quality of the formed sheet-metal part. Different types of performance variables and visual representations of the result values and performance variables can be computed and displayed in a post-simulation analysis. Correspondingly, further sets of parameters are used to control the numerical simulation itself (control parameters) and to control different types of post-simulation analysis (analysis parameters).
There is a need to provide users with assistance in performing standardized simulations and analysis of the results. For these purposes, it is known to provide users with default values for parameters, or to load given sets of parameters (“user configurations”) and it is also known, from other domains, to enforce user input into so-called “required” fields. However, such existing approaches do not sufficiently alleviate the problems encountered when handling large numbers of parameters in an effort to enforce standardized procedures in a multi-user, multi-company setting.